Fey said Gervais “could not be here tonight, because he is no longer technically in show business”.

Poehler’s introduction for ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ director Kathryn Bigelow made the audience gasp: “I haven’t been following the controversy over ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, but when it comes to torture, I trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron.”

Fey called Quentin Tarantino, nominated for ‘Django Unchained’, the “star of all my sexual nightmares”, while Poehler gave a nod to Meryl Streep, who was missing the event. “I hear she has the flu. I hear she’s amazing in it!”.

They also paid tribute to Anne Hathaway’s performance in ‘Les Miserables’ (which would later go on to win a Globe).

“I have not seen someone so totally alone and abandoned like that since you were onstage with James Franco at the Oscars.”

The duo earned plaudits from the showbiz world for the gig. Ellen DeGeneres tweeted: “Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are hilarious. I don't know why someone didn't think of this sooner.” Late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon chimed in with: “Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hit a HOME RUN tonight!!! Congrats”. His own presenting spot wasn’t as well received.

The duo certainly did a better job than Gervais’ almost apologetic routine in 2012 – when he felt the need to atone for a controversial (though far funnier) night’s work the previous year. The ladies could be a shoo-in to host the Oscars in 2014.